Festival takes place May 2-5, 2013; Includes outdoor screenings, Bogart memorabilia, tours on African Queen; Tickets now on sale at www.bogartfilmfestival.com

The Humphrey Bogart Estate and the Key Largo Chamber of Commerce have created an annual Humphrey Bogart Film Festival in Key Largo, Florida. The inaugural edition will be held on May 2-5, 2013. The festival will be hosted by Stephen Humphrey Bogart, the son of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, and will feature preeminent film historian and critic Leonard Maltin as a special guest. The festival opens with a cocktail reception and an outdoor screening of the Bogie-Bacall classic Key Largo.

The Humphrey Bogart Film Festival features a formal Bogart Ball, a display of Bogart memorabilia, and rides on the original, fully-restored African Queen. The theme of the inaugural festival is film noir, and Leonard Maltin will give a presentation at the Bogart Ball about Humphrey Bogart’s contribution to the genre. The Bogart Ball is a formal event, and features a cocktail reception, dinner, and dancing. The Bogie memorabilia include personal letters, signed contracts, movie posters, trophies and awards, clothing, and other unique artifacts.

The festival will screen Bogart movies and other iconic films from the film noir genre. Tracing Bogart’s career arc and the history of noir’s golden age, the following Bogie classics will be screened: The Petrified Forest, High Sierra, The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, Dark Passage, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Key Largo, and In a Lonely Place. Because the actual African Queen boat is in Key Largo, Bogie’s Oscar-winning turn as Charlie Allnut in The African Queen will also be shown. Lastly, since it’s hard to imagine a Humphrey Bogart festival without Rick Blaine, Casablanca will be screened. In between the Bogie classics, in order to provide a fuller picture of the history of film noir, classics such as Double Indemnity and Sunset Boulevard will be screened. More recent noirs, such as Memento, Brick, and Drive will complete the journey through the world of film noir.

Taking advantage of Key Largo’s wonderful climate and natural beauty, many of the movies will be screened under the stars. For example, on Friday, May 3, Bogart fans can choose between a Treasure of the Sierra Madre-Maltese Falcon double feature at the Founders Park Amphitheater and a Casablanca-African Queen double feature outside the Murray Nelson Cultural Center. On Saturday, May 4, there is a Maltese Falcon-Big Sleep double feature and a High Sierra-Casablanca double feature.

You can visit www.bogartfilmfestival.com to buy tickets, to book your hotel room at a discounted rate, or just to learn more about the Humphrey Bogart Film Festival. Blu-rays and DVDs of most of the Bogart film legacy are available from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment at www.wbshop.com.